Cupping and breast glasses



To all whom it may concern.: i

UNrrED srA'rnsrArENr onirica.

WM. S. THOMAOF NORVICH, NEV YORK.' i

i e curriive ANDY BREAST GLASSES.

specification of Letters Patent No. 8,809, dated March 1e, 1852.

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. THOMAS-, of Norwich, in the county of Chenango and] State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Exhausting Apparatus Particularly Applicable toSurgicalJ Purposes; and I do hereby declare that the` of dierent form, and Figs. 5 and 6 repre i sent respectively an elevation andY sect-ion of one of my` improved cupping-glasses with `the exhausting apparatus applied thereto.

My invention consists 1n connecting the piston of an exhausting apparatus zwith thev barrel thereof by means of an elastictube which not only packs the piston but also acts as a spring to draw the piston towardthat end of the barrel to which the elastic t-ube is l skin and the pressure of the thumb upon the made fast. 1

The leech represented in 4t-he accompanying drawings is composed of a body `or cyland an elastic .packi with it, and thuscreatesapartial vacuum in the leech and sucks the'blood into it. `As

inder A, a piston B, ing tube C.

The body (A) is. formed of apiece of glass tube, the size of which is regulated by the amount of blood tobe extracted; it may be of any convenient form toadapt it to the part of the human body to which it is to be applied. The body of the leech represented at Figs. 1 and 3 is a plain cylinder, that represented at Fig. 4 isa plain cylinder terminating in a narrow mouth a., which is connected with the body by a neck bent at right angles withthe cylinder. In all cases the upper extremity of the body should have a lip b formed upon it to which the elastic tube can be attached, and the cylindrical body of the leech should be sufiiciently long to permit a free movement of the piston. The latter consists of two disks of metal c 0 which are connected by a screw e, by means of which the two disks can be rmly drawn toward each other; it is of somewhat less diameter than the interior of the body to permit it to move freely therein. The piston is connected with the upper end of the leech body by an elastic tube C. The one extremity of this tube is turned over the lip at the upper extremity of the body of the leech andis secured thereto by a cord. The other extremity of the tube is crimped in between the `two disks of the piston and is made fast thereto by tightening the piston.

screw. y The leech when completed has the form represented at Fig. l. V

In order to use leeches of this description aplunger (Fig. 2) is provided, whose di- When the leech is to be applied the plunger is inserted in the `upper end of the leech, and is pressed down forcibly until the elastic tube is extended and the several parts of the implement occupy the positions in which they are respectively represented in Fig. 5. This movement of the plunger islconveniently effected by gripping the `upper extremity of the leech between the first i and second fingers of the hand, and by applying the thumb of the same hand to the upper end of the plunger. When the leech is thus extended, it is applied to the human body, theskin of which has previously been lcut by a proper instrument; in applying the leech, its :lower end is pressed against the plunger is relaxed. As the pressure is relaxed the elastic tube, tending to contract to its original dimensions, `draws the piston soon as the leech is fast, the operator reply other leeches while the first is filling with blood.

It will be perceived that the suction of the blood is dependent upon the perfectness of the vacuum in the leech and the elasticity of the tube. If the blood is to be sucked rapidly the piston is depressed to its lowest limit in the body of the leech, to expel the greatest quantity of air, and to form the best vacuum which the instrument is capable of producing. If on the other hand the blood is to be drawn gently, the piston is not depressed to its full extent, and consequently a quantity of air is left in the body of the leech, which expanding as the tube collapses impairs the vacuum and diminishes the suction.

My invention is applicable to cupping pumps and to other exhausting apparatus as well as to that I have above described. One such application is represented in Figs.

ameter is slightly less than that of the .pis-4 i 1 ton.

to the piston Gr. The piston is formed of two disks between which the extremity of `the elastic tube is firmly gripped; it is also fitted with a discharge valve formed -by simply binding av strip of oil silk h over thevalve orice. The piston is depressed in the barrel by means of a thumb plunger I whose lower extremity is socketed to fit upon the valve nipple and is perforated to permit the free passage of the air discharged by the valve orifice. The bottom piece of the pump has an adjustage upon it which is ground to fit a valve nipple z' secured tol ythe head of the cupping glass J.

Thev valve nipples of all the cupping glasses are of the same size, so that the same pump may be applied to them indifferently; and the valve nipple is tted with an oil silk valve n of the same construction as that of the pump pistoni@ When this apparatus is applied to the human body the exhaustion of the cupping glass is effected by alternately pressing the thumb plunger and permitting it to rise by the elastic force of the elastic tube. When the piston is depressed by pressure upon the thumb plunger, the air in the pump barrel is forced out through the valve orifice in the piston, and when the pressure is released, the tube by its elastic force draws the piston outward and thus sucks the air from the cupping glass through the valve orifice in the head thereof.

The examples I have represented and described are sufficient to elucidate the nature my invention pertains to apply it to special v cases.

The material I'have found best suited for the formation of the elastic tube is the article generally known as vulcanized india-v rubber. My invention is peculiarly applicable to leeching and cupping as from the nature of the elastic tube it does not tend to contract with a sudden movement; hence;

the suction is gentle ad gradual, and the apparatus in this respect simulates in its operation the action of natural leech. There is also another advantage which is of great importance in such an instrument, viz, the

facility with which it can vbe cleaned and repaired and the absence of any oily or fatty matter which has heretofore been requiredV to make the pistons of exhausting apparatus move air tight in their barrels.

Exx hausting apparatus upon this plan can be v constructed at small expense as the boring of the barrel is not required and the cost of fitting up the apparatus is much less than those hitherto constructed.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- The improved exhausting apparatus herein described for surgical Vand other purposes, said apparatus consisting of a combination of a tubular spring piston with `a barrel substantially as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

WILLIAM S. THOMAS. Witnesses: f

' ABBA K. MAYNARD, EDWARD S. RENNICK. 

